&quot;The New Deal brought 'Relief, Recovery and Reform' to the United States 1933-45 &quot;assess the validity of this statement.

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Introduction

FDR and the New Deal in the USA 1933-45 "The New Deal brought 'Relief, Recovery and Reform' to the United States 1933-45 "assess the validity of this statement. In a recent poll, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was found to be the second greatest president in the history of America, only losing out to Abraham Lincoln. Elected in November 1932 and inaugurated on the 4th March 1933 Roosevelt vowed to bring America out of the Great Depression. His plan was launched during his 'first hundred days' and became known as The New Deal. The New Deal had no blueprint, Roosevelt believed in experimentation rather than sticking to a rigid plan. His aim was to help all Americans by providing relief and recovery from the depression and reforming the administration of certain industries (i.e. the stock exchange and banking systems) so that the problem could not reoccur. The New Deal was thought by many to be capitalisms saviour and it brought the psychological dimension of hope to the American people. FDR's first hundred days began with a bang. Roosevelt invoked the 'Trading with the Enemy Act' (created by Woodrow Wilson during WW1). This gave him authority for all of his emergency legislation during the hundred days and was initially used to proclaim a four-day holiday from Monday 6th March until Tuesday 9th March to give government officials time to reorganise the banking system. ...read more.

Middle

This helped America recover from the recession and also to reform America into a (partial) welfare state. The National Recovery Administration represented a step away from the economic philosophy of laissez faire. It aimed at ensuring fair competition by having businesses sign their 'codes of practice' in return for displaying the 'blue eagle' of the NRA to show governmental approval. Although it was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1935 the NRA helped to reform peoples views in regard to labour and helped in bringing about certain changes in the law. The Wagner Act 1935 forced employers to recognise trade unions after the NRA was shut down so that employees still had the protection the NRA had previously afforded to them. The First New Deal 1933-1935 was predominately emergency measures aimed at relief and partial recovery to help America over the depression. The Second New Deal 1935-1938 saw a change of direction for Roosevelt; his main philosophy was now based on the concept of reform. The Social Security Act 1935 set up an unemployment and old age welfare scheme, although less comprehensive than similar systems in Britain and Germany, it was another considerable step towards reforming America into a (semi) ...read more.

Conclusion

Race issues were also left untouched by Roosevelt's policies. The 'Roosevelt Recession' 1937/1938 provides evidence that the underlying problems of over production and under consumption in American economy had not been solved. Yet in 1941, as the New Deal wound down, America saw a return to full employment and prosperity so it is safe to say FDR brought partial recovery. It was however, only the occurrence of World War two and the war stimulated economy that finally brought America out of the last dregs of the depression. "The New Deal brought 'Relief, Recovery and Reform' to the United States 1933-45 ".We must remember when assessing this statement that the New Deal lost momentum in the late 1930's and had ended by 1941, any progress after this time was completed by other forces and not the New Deal. I do however believe that Roosevelt did indeed bring relief, recovery and reform to America. America is now the world's only superpower, yet in the early years of Roosevelt's presidency, America was in the grips of an economic slowdown. America had pulled itself out of the depression with the help of Roosevelt in the space of eight years, a remarkable achievement for a remarkable man. WORD COUNT: 1,583 ...read more.

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